Regular readers will know, though, that while I do love me some artisan, fresh, made-with-love, and/or fancypants foods, I also adore supermarkets* and their aisles of long-life, artisan-copycat, often-cheaper edibles. I could deny this part of myself. I could create a blog-Hannah with a nose in the air and an eyebrow raised at anything with a factory-stamped use-by date.

But then who would warn you about Cadbury Toffee Crunch? And who would let you know that, in Florence’s Despar supermarkets, you can get some lovely gelato for a fraction of the cost, a multiplication of the quantity, and a whole lot less queuing than is de rigueur at upscale gelatarias?

Exactly. You deserve real-Hannah, not fake-created-Hannah. And this is what real-Hannah has to say about Italian supermarket gelato.

Desidezi alla Panna Cotta e Caramello

Yes, the photo above is of supermarket gelato, but I defy you to look me in the eyes and tell me it looks unappealing. (Vegan and lactose-intolerant stances aside.) The texture of this gelato was lighter, airier, and fluffier (I just said three words that mean the same thing… West Wing reference, anyone?) than its denser gelataria cousins, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing. Regardless, the cream and vanilla notes of the gelato, combined with the almost-burnt sweetness of its nut-flecked caramel sauce, was fan-diddly-tastic.

I may have started by eating the Despar gelato like this...

But ten minutes later I decided to stop being silly and, so, got rid of the bowl. Ten minutes after that? All gone!

Desidezi al Pistacchio e Gianduia

Hmm, this photo suffers a tad from the vertical angle, doesn’t it?

Despar’s two-in-one pistachio and gianduja gelati were my least favourite, although each was pleasant enough. As I’ve said countless times, I (obviously) love chocolate but only in its pure form – give me a few squares of the stuff over vaguely-chocolatey frozen cream any day. The pistachio ice cream was pleasant but equally as vague in flavour, as all I thought upon tasting it was “kinda nutty”, not “clearly pistachio”.

Desidezi al Limone di Sicilia

Remember how I once said that zingy, lemon-y desserts are my pick? Well, I’m no liar. This gelato was absolutely and utterly my favourite of Despar’s, and I actually bought it three times during my time in Florence. Each time, I ate it in under half an hour. (That said, this is a direct tasting note quote from near the end of one such effort: “Okay, wow, this really is a lot of gelato… lotsy lotsy tangy sweet… must. power. on.”)

This gelato epitomized my favourite aspect of a well-executed lemon dessert: the interplay of almost-too-tangy lemon with just enough sweetness to counter, without downplaying, the zinginess. This had an incredible depth of lemon juice (not peel – definitely not bitter peel) flavour, and was so wonderfully refreshing in its refusal to bow to the Sprite crowd. (I do not understand how Sprite is meant to be lemon-flavoured. I really don’t.)

And that’s my final word on the matter.

* Not just foreign ones, either. Prior to today, I’d already walked over to my local Coles twice this week to stock up on bits and bobs. Today, I told my housemate I was quickly popping over the road to get my new prescription filled out#. I came back an hour later. Yes, the housemate asked what on earth had taken so long. Yes, she rolled her eyes at me when I pulled Date and Caramel Scone Toast out of my shopping bag. I cannae help it, ma’am! The combination of “New!” and “Sale!” labels renders me powerless, even when attached to foodstuffs I wouldn’t normally glance at. (I’m not a bread/toast person at all. Seriously. I ate one baguette during my entire 3ish-week stint in Paris.)

# Thank heavens my doctor agrees that something really, really needs to be done about my year-long toe saga. You’d’ve thought two surgeries and enough antibiotics to turn my insides radioactive would be enough, but no. The current course of action involves blood pressure medication and at least three visits to the nurse this week. So, folks, if I start writing posts that seem even waftier than normal, it’s probably just because I’m feeling light-headed.

great to hear from real Hannah – I am sure real hannah doesn’t need a bowl when there is a tub of ice cream about – and I can appreciate that you love lemon flavour when I don’t but only one baguette in paris – that is criminal – they are heaven on a stick or should that be heaven in a stick!

Hi Hannah
i too love gelato! on my last trip to Rome with my son, we had gelato 3 times a day……superfarket gelato has come a long way, but still not quite up to par in the states…..we do have a lot more gelato shops now in Philadelphia , and some are quite good.
thanks for sharing your perspective on gelato!
Dennis

Best of luck with the toe Hannah! You poor thing! 😦 And yes that is the exact way I feel about a well executed lemon dessert. That’s why i adore lemon meringue pie where the lemon is truly lemony but the meringue counters it.

The reason I don’t like supermarket tub ice cream is because it’s essentially full of air (as they sell on volume). It sounds like it’s an International practice! And did you know that Margaret Thatcher used to be involved in trying to find ways to inject more air into ice cream (before being P.M.)? 😛

Also, I am so sorry about your toe :[ There’s actually something I haven’t told you, and I think now’s the time, though this is probably not the place…well, delete this after reading if you wish, but here goes.

I’m having a toe saga of my own =/ Nothing as bad as yours, but here’s the deal. I’m a marathon runner, as you know. On New Years Eve, my left big toe hurt a bit for a few hours, and that was that. Then it turned completely black. I assume years of repetitive running trauma did that. So, toenail is black as night, and its growth slows waaay down, AND it turns sort of…humpy. Like higher and more convex than it should be.

Fast-forward 7 months to the Saturday before last. Matt and I are at our favorite local wine bar eating hummus and sipping champagne. I’m wearing some super-cute 5.5-inch (14cm) heeled sandals that Matt bought me in Chicago. I hook my left foot on the rung of the barstool beneath me. Foot slips. Toenail catches on rung. Toenail separates from nail bed. Toe bleeds all over floor of wine bar. Matt runs to get a towel and cleans up the best he can while I try and keep from crying. Embarrassed and in pain, I hobble out, with Matt’s help.

The nail is currently hanging by a thread. I’m afraid to take it off, because I feel like the nail bed needs to be covered/protected. I’ve peroxided the crap out of it, and the tissue is, by now, totally dead and painless. I’ve been antibiotic-ointmenting and wrapping it in fresh gauze daily. I’m not sure what to do but bear with it. I haven’t been able to run, which sucks, but I need to let this heal right, even if it means missing the marathon this fall.

::Sigh:: There is my 7-months-long-so-far saga. So when I say I understand your frustration, even just to a point, now you can see that I’m not lying :]

Chef Dennis: You’re welcome! From experience, though, the ice creams you can get in the States are superior to what we get here in Australia! I didn’t make it to Philadelphia in my recent visit – next time I’ll have to put it on the itinerary and ask your advice about gelato!

Lorraine: *gasp* She really *was* pure evil! 😀 In general, I don’t tend to care much for ice cream, but I have to say Maggie Beer’s Burnt Fig and Caramel supermarket version was pretty good! And thanks – I’ll pass on your well-wishes to the toe…

Simply Life: Nah, I think you should stick with your granola pancakes 🙂

Camille: I know, right? 😉 And ohhhh, I will! You have no idea how painful it is for me to read about all the self-serve + myriad candy toppings frozen yogurt cafes in the States… so I know that a Camille-created version will be torturous!

Amber: Well, to be fair, I was busy eating 66 macarons in Paris! Who needs bread when you have 66 macarons? 😀 But Amber, you poor thing! That’s awful, and yes, I think we completely understand each other… though in a perfect world we wouldn’t need to! *sigh* Have you been to see a doctor about it? Though it sounds like you’ve done all you can do. My mum also knocked her toenail almost off and has been trying to “keep it in place” until it falls off properly and the new one grows. Hopefully once this toe-trauma of yours has healed, then new toenail won’t have the same black issue as before. But I’m really, really, sorry sweetie – that sucks 😦 (Most importantly, though, did the super cute shoes survive? Thank heavens you weren’t wearing those hot white boots!)

Lisa: Thanks 🙂 And I don’t anyone can say they’ve truly been to Italy UNLESS they ate their weight in gelato there 🙂

Oh Hannah I should clarify that I think the ice creams like Maggie Beer aren’t like that. I think they would make proper ice cream. I mean the tubs like Peters and Pauls and Streets have a lot of air into them 😉

Your toe is really starting to make me unhappy. If this continues any longer I may be forced to come over there and give it a stern talking to. Very stern. With finger waggling and a furrowed brow and everything 😦

I’d expect nothing less from you than polishing off the tubs in one sitting. I did exactly this one night in Montreal recently – it had been a very long day in the lab, and on my way home to my hotel I bought a massive tub of ice cream, knowing full well I didn’t have a freezer in my room and confident that this would not be a problem. It wasn’t.

No ice cream in my house today though, and it’s all stormy and nasty outside so no moseying down to the shops! Wah!

The shoes were just fine – PHEW! I hope your mom’s nail heals as does mine. And yours too! In the meantime, I suppose we’ll have to be travel-, peanut-butter-, poetry-, Little-House-On-The-Prairie-, cute-shoe-, AND toe-buddies-meant-to-be. :]

Lorraine: Okay, so we can put Maggie Beer and Gundowring in the “acceptable” category, and ice creams of Streets’ ilk in the “horrible and tastes like frozen watery sugar” category 😀

Conor: Thank you for your caringness – it truly is much appreciated 🙂 Particularly as I had to do an emergency return to the doctor today, for it seems 48 hours between appointments is too long for the toe – 24 hours is more it’s style. And it’ll be less than 24 hours when I’m back there tomorrow. Woot! Teehee, I shouldn’t admit how many times I had the “I have no freezer but I’m absolutely buying this whole tub of ice cream anyway” conversation with myself on my travels. And there’s more photo evidence too, if I decide to post about it 😛

The B&W picture’s cute!! I mean, artsy 🙂 And gelato?!?! YUM! I’m ready for some now, wanna ship it over to me in a freezer bag?!? Haha. If not, I’ll allow you to eat it all I guess. Straight out of the carton 🙂

I’m a little embarrassed to say I’ve never had gelato. Shocking I know! I’m just not that worldy I guess. Your pictures make it look delicious. Definitely moving it up on that list of foods that picky old me needs to try 🙂

TheHungryScholar: Have you told them you want it more regularly? Pester pester pester! People power! You can do it! 😀

Monique: I can’t even get it myself in Australia – Florence is a loooong way away! But thank you for so considerately allowing me to eat the hypothetical versions 🙂 (And for agreeing that the photo is artsy :P)

Baking Serendipity: I wasn’t really that interested in it before I went to Italy! Maybe you should save your gelato-trying for a trip to Europe yourself 😀

Aloha! I decided I might drop a short comment considering that I’ve spent the greater part of the past 30 minutes reading through your blog posts. I’m fascinated with the quality of writing you’ve got yourself here, and I will undoubtedly be back again to say hiya again later on. Well that is all I need to say! Thanks again and also nice to ‘meet’ you 🙂